Education, Culture, and the Patterns of Frontier Settlement

Description

Kathryn Kish Sklar of SUNY—Binghamton discusses the rising importance of successful schools in antebellum frontier towns and the feminization of the teaching profession that accompanied the new demand for teachers. Sklar also looks at the impact of the Second Great Awakening on the education of female teachers.

To view this clip, select "Education, Culture, and the Patterns of Frontier Settlement" under "Frontier Settlement Video."

The Expansion of Slavery, White Racial Attitudes, and the Settlement of Illinois

Description

Michael Johnson of Johns Hopkins University discusses the reasons antebellum Midwestern settlers, including those in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, excluded slavery from their states. Johnson considers racism and fear of competition as two possible reasons.

To view this clip, select "The Expansion of Slavery, White Racial Attitudes, and the Settlement of Illinois" under "Frontier Settlement Video."

Whig Political Ideas

Description

Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia contrasts the emphasis of the antebellum Whig party on public interest with the Democratic party's emphasis on individual rights.

To view this clip, select "Whig Political Ideas" under "Economic Development and Labor Video."

Family Life and the Development of the Middle Classes in Antebellum America

Description

Kathryn Kish Sklar of SUNY-Binghamton discusses the change in family structure in the mid-19th century which heralded the institutionalization of the "Victorian family," in which the husband and the wife were seen as inhabiting separate "spheres" of work and home.

To listen to this lecture, select "Family Life and the Development of the Middle Classes in Antebellum America" under "Economic Development and Labor Video."

Southerners on the Frontier

Description

Edward L. Ayers of the University of Virginia discusses the movement of religions, ways of life, racial attitudes, and other cultural aspects into frontier areas. Ayers focuses specifically on the movement of race-related concepts into Illinois, including a general resistance to slaveholding and a general unfriendliness to free blacks. He also mentions how politicians, such as Abraham Lincoln, had to take care to tailor their political messages for particular regions.

To listen to this lecture, select "Southerners on the Frontier," and scroll to "African-American Experience Videos."

The Dred Scott Case, Part One: Background

Description

Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia outlines the legal cases that preceded the U.S. Supreme Court Case Dred Scott v. Sandford. McCurdy looks at the support, until the 1830s, of the master's side of cases involving slaves suing for freedom following time spent in a free state; the support, beginning in the 1830s, of the slave's side of such cases in free states; the life of Dred Scott prior to the case; and the climbing of the case up the U.S. court system.

The Dred Scott Decision of 1857

Description

Eric Foner of Columbia University outlines the results of the Dred Scott v. Sandford U.S. Supreme Court case, which institutionalized the exclusion of African Americans from citizenship, and Republican denunciation of the Court's decision (including Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the ruling).

To view this clip, select "The Dred Scott Decision of 1857" under "African-American Experience Video."